Supression Cure
by maru
Summary: The group follow up leads of a mysterious magical item that may turn Zelgadis's body back to normal. But, it has an unexpected side affect...even if you don't like a little Zel/Lina, read it anyways please!^_^ UPDATED: 2001.6.1 R&R! Arigato!
1. Default Chapter

# Surpression Cure

### Chapter 1:Who are we? What's wrong with you, Zelgadiss?

#### By Sailor Dragonslave

Disclaimer:Gah, I WISH I owned The Slayers(and Zelgadiss ^^), but I don't...it belongs to Kanzaka-san and Araizumi-san, and also other peoples...but not me. But this fic DOES belong to me, and if you steal it, I'll hunt you down and beat you with my kendo sword.^_^ No, really... 

Yay! One of my first Slayers ficcies!!! Sorry, not much Zel+Lina in this chapter, but more'll come! 

"Zzz...ZzZ..Hey Lina...if you're not gonna-*snore*-eat your chirashi...ZZz...then lemme 'ave it...zzz..." 

It kinda went on like that for the last couple of days...Zelgadiss lay awake, thinking, while Gourry snored on, sleeptalking about eating every now and then. At least the rocks mostly covered up the otherwise visible bags that were probably under his eyes._I'd give anything just to have my own, human flesh back, even if it ment the common unnatractive imperfections of the human face,_ He thought,_ Anything's better than THIS face. But the others don't seem to notice or care...why is that?_ Well, who knows. Lina and the others where currently on a quest with him to find a cure, and hopefully they'd get some leads. He was happy to have friends helping him in his seemingly ever-present search for the unknown remedy. He lay there untill his thoughts of an impossible cure faded away, and he alowed himself to drift to sleep. 

* * * 

"HEY!!! ZEL!!!Don't make me go get Lina to wake you up!!!" 

Gourry's boyish voice rang through Zegadiss's ears, suddenly waking him from his restless sleep. This was one of the rare mornings when he wanted to sleep till noon, but he knew that when you're on an adventure, especially with other people, it's almost impossible. 

"Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up..." he said with a bit of a tone of irritableness. 

"Good! You missed breakfast 'cause Lina told me to leave you alone for a while. She said that you could get a cup of coffee on our way out, or something." Gourry said._ Thank you, Lina!_ Gourry gave a "See ya" and exited then room as Zelgadiss stifly got out of bed and proceeded to put on the rest of his clothes(you didn't think he was going to go off clad in his boxers, did you?). 

Zelgadiss walked down the stairs, where Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and...Xelloss awaited them. 

"It's about time!" Lina said, with a big smile on her face. He smiled slightly, and nodded. 

"Well, now that everyone's here," Xelloss started,"We should get going. Although it's directly south, it'll take about a day or two for us to get there." 

Zelgadiss was puzzled."Where?" 

"Oh," Lina said."You wheren't here when we where discussing a shrine that a person told us about...for a REALLY unfair amount of money." She pulled out a map slovenly rolled-up and tied together with an aged ribbon. She handed to him."This just better not be a fake." Zelgadiss untied the ribbon, and unraveled the parchement. It was a map of an area in the southern Outer World, but what really caught his attention was the red dot that indicated big temple."Hm. I see." 

"Yeah." Lina replied."We'll travel directly south, thankfully not having anything that hazardous to our heath." 

"Allright," he said,"Let's get going, then." 

The journey south was an unexpectantly unpleasant one...the weather was hot and dry, and by the time they finally saw the temple, everyone was ready to die, especially, it seemed, Lina. And, as usual, Xellos had teleported away, most likely to reappear when they were in the temple. 

She fell to her knees."Maybe we should camp here for the night and have a bite to eat," she suggested."It's getting late anyways." 

"Definately!" Gourry chimed in. 

"Yeah I guess," Amelia added. 

"Mm." Zelgadiss sounded, as he nodded, his usaual, quiet response. 

They had set up camp, and had finished the little food that they could carry with them. It was soon nightfall, and Amelia, curled up next to a tree, and Gourry, leaning up against another tree, had fallen asleep. Lina and Zelgadiss sat in silence, until- 

"Say,Lina," he started,"I was jus wondering...Do you know if there are any...well, side affects that accompany this curse?" 

"Hmm," she said,"Good question. Probably not, though, but hope that it won't just cure ONE of your sides insted of turning you completely back to human." She folded her hands behind her head. and leaned up against a fallen log, and yawned."Anyways, I'm going to sleep. Don't stay up too late, Zel. G'night." 

"'Night, Lina." he answered back. 

As the time passed and Zelgadiss could hear Lina quitely snoring, he sat there and just stared blankly at the brilliant blaze of the fire._With my luck, this "cure" is just a lie made up by some greedy jackass merchent looking to fill his pokets._ He dimly realized that he may be becoming a bit too comsumed with finding a cure, and maybe he wasn't focusing enough on his feelings.He looked over at Lina._Hey!_ A voice inside him cried,_ Are you crazy?! There's no girl in this world who'd care for a chimera any further than a friend. But, what if Lina's feelings towards me isn't friendship but...pity maybe? Pity me because everyone else deems me a monster at first glance? Because I have no one? No, that can't be true. I mustn't think that way. Mine and the group's relationship isn't like that...hopefuly._ He sighed. He'd love to have a companion, a lover but...There was no way anyone would love HIM. Even though Lina seemed to flirt with him a bit, it was impossible. But those thoughts were brushed away, along with his feelings for Lina, cleared for the path of finding a cure. 

* * * 

After yet another sleepless night, Zelgadiss awoke to a light shaking of his shoulder."Hey! Hey, Zel, wake up!!" It was Lina. 

He moaned."Just five more minutes...please..." He rolled over onto his side, his back to Lina. 

"Not this time!" she said."C'mon, get up! We're near the shrine! You can rest AFTER we've gotten our hands on that cure of yours." 

"All right, all right..." He shakily stood up, and grabbed his cloak. 

"We'll take the path that leads straight up to the shrine, and it shoudn't take more than a half an hour." Lina explained as Zelgadiss fastened on his cloak, and Lina took out the other map that portrayed the inside of the sanctum."Says here that there are a bunch of traps inside." 

"Guess we better be careful." Gourry said, trying to sound smart. 

They walked up the trail to the consecrated building, arriving soon thereafter. 

"Can't say it's the biggest temple I've ran into, but it's pretty big." Lina remarked. 

Zelgadiss, obviously eager to enter the temple to retrieve the item, walked up to the door."It doesn't seem to be locked...I'm sure it's been entered and looted by treasure hunters." 

"Well, there's no harm in looking, just to make sure." Amelia said. Boy, was she wrong. 

As soon as they entered and walked a few meters, the area lit by a Lighting spell of Lina's, they found that the ground before them was some kind of grid, each with a symbol on it. It was seven one meter squares across, and the same for length. They all had some symbols that were etched into the stone, and a deeper color than the floor. 

"Huh." Lina glanced at the tile."Strange floor plan. Oh well..." The second(okay, well, the second AFTER that) she steped onto the square before her, it just vanished!! As soon as she, as well as the others, could manage a startled cary, Lina leaped up into the air off of the tile to avoid falling, she was immediatly caught by... 

"You got your wish, Lina-san!! Never fear, for I am her, my dear..." 

Lina looked up at her supposed savior."Just shut up and put me down, Xellos." 

He sighed."You know, Lina, I just saved you from a potential--" 

"PUT. ME. DOWN." Lina said forcefully. Xellos sighed again and obeyed, setting Lina down in fron of the others and the large hole. 

"You'll just have to compinsate me later, Lina." he said to her slyly with a rather sadistic smirk, and winked. 

"I'm going to choose to ignore that, since you saved me..." Lina muttered dryly."Anyways, you know how to read this stuff, right?" 

"Hmmm..." Xellos peered at the scrip that littered asphalt."I might." 

Lina grabbed Xellos be the collar pulled him down(wayyy down ^__^) to her highth so that thier noses were only a few centimeters away from eachother."I KNOW you know what it means, Xellos, so SPILL IT!!" 

"Lina, Lina!" Xellos said in a tone that suggested hurt as he put up his hands in defense,"I was GOING to tell you...eventually." Lina let go of him roughly, and he looked closer at the tiles."Well, it looks to me like these tiles are some magical ward. Meaning, anyone with magical capabillities, humans that is--oh, and human-like people(Zelgadiss glared darkly at Xellos for using an unwanted tone of voice with "human-like")--, cannot cross." 

"GREAT!!" Lina blared,"We can't just have Gourry going! This is a DISASTER!!" 

Xellos sighed melodramaticly."Oh, you didn't forget ME, did you? This is just a sort of warning trap; it can't harm you if you TELEPORT there..."* 

"That's right!" Lina exclaimed."Xellos can telport us there!" 

Zelgadiss snorted."He just better not try anything funny." 

"Zelly-kun!" Xellos said."Get your mind out of the gutter! I wouldn't do that!" 

"I doubt that..." Lina muttered. 

"That's NOT what I meant..." Zelgadiss said darkly."And don't EVER call me "Zelly-kun"." 

"Mr. Xellos, could you please just transport us to the next room?" Amelia said impatiently. She no doubtedly wanted to see her crush's human form. 

"All right, all right." he said."Here we go!" In a flash, they were teleported to an immense room, the only visible sorce of light being a kind of altar which held an object too far away to make out. The room itself wasn't anything special; although, there were a pair of suits of armor on either side of the steps that led to the altar. 

"That must be it..." Zelgadis said in a near wisper,"That must be it!!" This was the happiest they'd ever see the usually dark chimera. He started to run up to the steps, Lina, Gourry and Amelia on his heals, and Xellos dissapearing once more, most assuredly to come again. 

"Hey, wait up, Zel!!" Lina said, a giggle threatening to break into the sentence. She was glad to see her friend so happy; maybe the cure would change his gloomy attitude!_And hey, maybe he'll be really cute!!_ Lina frowned at her thoughts._Where'd THAT come from?_She shrugged it off; there were too many things happening at once, she didn't have time to think about that right now._But maybe later._ She smiled slightly to herself. 

Zelgadis had almost reached the beggining of the stairway, when there was a CLANG! of metal. Zelgadis stopped suddenly. The two suits of armor the were motionless before had formed an X between them with thier spears, preventing the chimera from proceeding any further. 

"Speak thy name, intruder." The left suit of armor ordered. It spoke in an emotionless monotone voice, malice crackeling within it. 

Zelgadis was quite irritated, but said simply,"Let me pass." 

"If thou doest not speaketh thy name..." It pointed its spear at Zelgadis, who did not flinch nor show any visible sign of pain. 

"Listen, buddy," Lina broke in,"We've been through hell to get here, and I have a feeling that even if we DO tell you our names, you'll--" Lina was cut off by the thrust of the armor's javaline. There was a loud THUD! as the metal pole was caught by Zelgadis. He struggled with it for a moment, his inhuman strength not even enough to overpower the knight. Accepting this, Zelgadis jumped back, the spear slamming into the ground, damaging the concrete. 

"Goz'Vrow!" Zelgadis shouted as he touched the ground. It split open a large rip in the floor, rocks and boulders hurling at the armor. It tryed to deflect it, but to no avail. The rocks piled up on it, pinning it to the ground, only its hand visible. The glove twitched, but the fell motionless. Now it was the other gaurd's turn, Gourry, Amelia, and Lina deciding to take this one on. 

"Haaa!" Amelia cried as she flipped it onto its side. 

Gourry drew the Sword of Light."Light come forth!!" He sliced the armor throught its shoulder, but as soon as it was punctured, it put itself back together."Agh! That's not fair!!" 

"Aqua Freeze!" Lina's spell hit its target, freezing it totally. Lina walked up to it, and nonchalantly pushed it over. The block of ice that held the gaurd crashed on the floor into millions or icy pieces and splinters. 

She dusted her hands off, and gestured to the stairs."Shall we?" 

They all nodded and hurried up the stairs, and approached the altar, the item that they had been searching for the whole time, just laying there on a cusion. It just looked like a mass energy until Zelgadis picked it up

Zelgadis watched in aw as the ball shapedshifted into a strage rune._This is it,_ He said to himself._It's here. In my hands. I've found it. Could this be a dream? Even if it is, I don't want to wake up!_ He instictively thought and wished to be human; he invisioned himself as a human, as he was before Rezo, tan colored flesh, alert to temperature, his dark violet hair, in soft strands insted of the wirey unkemp hair that he currently posessed...But then, something happened. His mind went blank._Hey...where am I..?_

Lina, Gourry, and Amelia looked on in awe. Zel was human, and a looker at that! Amelia stared at him dreamily, while Lina just looked at him quietly._Wow, Zel sure does look different...I don't know...I am falling for Zelgadis? It sems that was...but he probably isn't interested in me..._"Hey ,Zel! Turn aroung so we can see the rest of you!" Gourry called cheerfully. Zelgadis jumped a bit, and spun around._Wha-what the.._

"Hey...who are you guys?!" 

### _Next Time:_

"What?! Who are we?" Lina cried in shock."Zel, have you lost it?!" 

"What the hell are you talking about?!" he asked."I don't know any of you!!" 

* * * 

"As I feared ..." Xellos said."I turned him ALL the way back to the way he was before he was a chimera...meaning he has no memory of you, or anything else that happened to him after that." 

"WELL, HOW DO WE CHANGE HIM BACK?!?!?!" Lina asked, shaking with anger,"And why didn't you tell us this before?!" 

"Well, there is ONE way..." he answered, ignoring the last question. 

Join us next time for Chapter Two: There's Something We Can Do? Love Always Seems to Interfere! 

You'd better read, or else I'll REALLY cause some trouble! 

Oooh! The plot thickens!^_^ Not really...but whatever! I couldn't resist that last part..^^ Thanks for reading, I'll have the next chapter done soon...sorry I switched to "Zelgadis" insted of "Zelgadis" at the last part...oh well. Arigato! Ja ne!=) 

* = Plot hole! If you don't know what was wrong, then I won't tell you!=P Sore wa, himitsu desu!!^____^


	2. There's Something We Can Do? Love Always...

### Chapter 2:There's Something We Can Do? Love Always Seems to Interfere! 

#### By Sailor Dragonslave

Yay! I finally got my Slayers DVD set fro my b-day and even watched some Slayers Next!! I know what happened to Zelly-kun!!! Sayonara, writer's block!!^_^ Many many thanks to the kind pplz who reviewed!! 

Zelgadis was, to say the least, confused. He just didn't know what to make of this. The people who stood before him were total strangers. There was a tall, blode, pretty-boy looking man, a rather short young girl, and another girl, barely any taller. The girl with the firey-red hair, in Zelgadis's opinion, was actually quite attractive. But for all he knew, she could be a bitch, he didn't know her(if only you knew, Zel ^^;; n/o, Lina, j/k.). 

"Well?! Who are you?!" he repeated, rather forcefuly this time. 

"What?! Who are we?" the red head cried in shock."Zel, have you lost it?!" 

"What the hell are you talking about?!" he asked."I don't know any of you!!" 

The girl who had done most of the speaking thusfar was wide eyed, and mouthed in terror, as was the dark-haired girl."Zelgadis-san, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?" 

_How do these people know me?! How do they know my name?_"Answer my question!" This time he drew his sword to show how serious he was about the matter. 

"Zel..." the red-headed girl spoke quitely. 

"If you won't tell me your names, then tell me where I am!" he said. 

The same girl took a step forward."Snap out of it, Zel! Why don't you remeber us? What's wro--" Before the girl could finish her sentence, Zelgadis slash forward at her, but deliberately not very fast; it was more of a warning, which was why she dodged so easily. He didn't really want to hurt a girl. But still she looked as if the sword had slashed open her stomach. She was just staring at him with eyes that displayed too many emotions to keep track of; partly sadness, concern, and even rage. 

_Why is she staring at me like that?_

The tall blonde turned to Zelgadis."Hey, Zel, even if you are mad at Lina for something, that's going too far!" He drew his sword. Zelgadis knew that he had a one-in-100 chance of defeating the masculine man, but he wasn't going to back down. Before they could start the duel, a violet-haired man with a staff as big as himself appeared between him and his enemy(much to Zel's releif, although he would never admit it). 

The man before him shook his head."Tsk, tsk...this won't do at all." 

Zelgadis chose gusto over silence."Whoever you are, get out of my way!" 

"My, you where even more of an impetuous person before you were turned into a chimera...maybe you should calm down." the man shot a ball of yellow magical energy at Zelgadis, who collapsed into a temporary sleep. 

"For now, we have some peace and quiet to talk things over." Xellos said. 

"Well, start by telling us why Zelgadis doesn't remember us!!" Lina said. 

"Hmmm...as I feared ...It turned him ALL the way back to the way he was before he was a chimera...meaning he has no memory of you, or anything else that happened to him after that..." Xellos took his hand to his chin and went into deep thought. 

Lina was somewhat enraged by the priest's ability to stay calm and rather absentminded in a situation like this."WELL, HOW DO WE CHANGE HIM BACK?!?!?!" she asked, shaking with anger,"And why didn't you tell us this before?!" 

"Well, there is ONE way..." he answered, ignoring the last question. 

"And what's that?" Amelia said, irritated and somewhat startled by the current events. 

"We must travel to the place where the transformation took place, and after that...well, Zelgadis will have to work that out himself, unless by chance, you guys know of any genies that can grant wishes." 

"What do you mean, "work that out himself"?" Lina asked in her inquiring voice. 

"I meant exactly as I said," Xellos said, putting up his index finger as he spoke."This has somewhat disrupted his spirit in the Astral Plane, and he must correct the error on his own." 

"But, where was Zel first turned into a chimera?" Gourry said, trying to act like the intelectual that he was not, but you have to admire the effort."Huh..." 

"The Spiral Forest, although it's more of a jungle, in terms of the plant life." Xellos pointed out. He used to train there." 

"How did you know that much, fruitcake?" Lina asked. 

Xellos giggled slightly and wagged a the same index finger."Sore wa, himitsu desu!!" And with that, his dissapeared once more. 

"Just like Mr.Xellos to do something like this..." Amelia sighed. 

"Yeah, just leaving us hanging..." Gourry said sollomly. 

"We HAVE to find that forest, or we'll never get Zel back!" Lina said."We'll get back to town, and check things out. C'mon, you guys. Gourry, take Zel." 

By the time they got back to the town, it was nightfall, and the shop that held maps for sale was thus closed."Dammit!" Lina swore. 

"Looks like we'll have to wait till morning." Amelia sighed. 

"Ohhhhh, no!" Lina said."We can't wait that long and have Xellos's spell wear off!! Then we'll have to deal with an angry and disoriented teenaged Zel! We'll just have to sneek in and *borrow* a map!!" 

"But, Lina," Gourry said, indicating the metal bars over the doors and windows,"How're we gonna get through THAT without causing a ruckus?" 

"Ano..." It struck everyone(yeah, just 3 people, but hey) that Gourry had just outwitted(in a sense) Lina, and the girls sweatdropped. 

"Er, anyways," Amelia said breaking the silence,"We should rent a room at the inn and wait till morning to get a map. Besides, we going to have to wake up Mr.Zelgadis one way or another." 

They rented four rooms, and placed Zelgadis in one. After Lina was the only one in the room, she looked closely at Zelgadis. _Man, he really is cute!_ She blushed at this thought. _He looks like a little boy when he sleeps...such a peaceful look on his face..._ She stopped herself. Jeez, she was acting as if she were Amelia! _AHHH! I'm acting as if I were Amelia!_ And boy, did that scare Lina. She decided that enough was enough, and left to her room. _G'night, Zel._

Xellos had watched the trio plus the young and unconcious version of Zelgadis enter the inn from a high spot in tree."Hm...maybe they will be the ones to lead me to what I seek..." 

Yeah, it was a short chapter, but hey! What's the next chapter? I HAVE NO IDEA!! Do you?^_^


	3. Chiryo Suru: Is It For Real?

Surpression Cure Ch3

**Surpression Cure Ch3:**

Chiryo Suru: Is It For Real?

Zelgadiss awoke in the middle of the night with a start, sweating buckets thanks to a dream he had just had. In this dream, his ojiisan[1g also trans>] had approached him with an offer to make him stronger. He had always strived for power ... It was an offer he couldn't refuse. He was sick of being to little runt who bigger kids beat up just for the hell of it. He'd get his power, and when he did ... Oh, he'd make them pay allright. Okay, so his lust for power bordered on megelomania, but he didn't care if he got a bit obsessive about it, just as long as no one noticed.(an:^^;;) 

In the dream, he hadn't actually said yes: maybe because he thought it was too good to be true, or maybe he was scared of the evil feeling aura that emmited from his ojiisan Akahoushi Rezo. But, as with most dreams, it was strange: the dark, crimson mass of the priest's robes extended, billowing cloth wrapping around him while the electricity-like magical energy fist just crackled in the air, increasing his apprehension, until finaly it focused on him. That was when he had woke up._ What was that about?_ he thought._ Creepy._

At that moment, the door slid open, revealing a slim, petite figure. His head quickly turned to find that someone standing hesitantly in the doorway with a candle: it was the red-headed "Lina" girl from before. She opened the door further, and took a meek step inside."Ano...Can I come in?"

He simply looked at her candle-lit face and nodded in reply. 

She nodded back and walked in, closing the door to a crack. There was a long and rather unconforable silence.

It just kind of happened: a barrage of questions."What's going on? Where am I? What am I doing here? Why am I dressed in these un-fasionable clothes? When--" His third-degree outburst was cut off by a sharp thud of her elbow to his head. He let out a stifled cry of pain and rubbed his head vigorously."ITAI!! What the hell was that for?!" 

"GEEZ!!" she exclaimed, he mood swiftly changing,"I liked you better when you hardly talked at all!" Her expression softened and became thoughtful."But then again, I can't get hurt by hitting you anymore..." 

"Excuse me?" he asked in a casual manner,"Mind telling me what in the name of L-sama is going on here??" His voice was now bordering on annoyance; nobody would tell him what was going on! 

"Huh?" she said quizzicaly, becoming thoughtful again,"I guess Xellos was right...You've gone back to..." she trailed off mumbling incomprehensibly. 

"I've gone back to what what what??" he said, acting like a curiously annoyed 6-year-old.

"Ohhhhh, boy..." she said exasperatibly."This is gonna take a while..." she sighed."Yareyare...okay, here's the deal..." 

She then proceeded to explain everything: from Rezo to him searching for a cure, and up to the presant. It took a while, but at least now he had a bit of a grasp on what was happening. But it left him open-mouthed, and wanting more information. 

"So," he started,"What will happen when you get him back? To me, I mean." 

"You?" she asked,"Nothing bad'll happen to you, I promise. If the solution involves somethin' bad happening to you, we'll just have to find another one!" 

"What if there is no solution?" he asked grimly. 

"There IS one!!" she yelled, but then noted her volume and the time of night, and quited down."Weren't you listening?? We have to go back to where the spell took place!! We'll be heading out in the mourning," she looked briefly outside at the sky through the window, the sky now a light shade of dark blue,"and the others will be waking up very soon now, maybe in an hour or so. Ja!" She abruptly hopped off of her seating on the bed, and ran out the door to her room. 

A few hours later everyone was down at the breakfast table as Zelgadis walked downstairs. The girl he had talked to the night before and the blonde swordsman where TOTALY pigging out, much to Zel's astonishment._ How can they...?!_ His questioning thoughts were cut short by a chirp of "Ohayo, Zelgadis-san!" from the raven-haired girl. 

"Ohayo..." he replied quietly. Then he remembered: the Zelgadis from this time had met and befriended these people, as Lina had explained: the "baka kurage blonde", Gourry Gabriev; the "dark-haired justice-freak princess of Seyruun", Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun; and Lina Inverse herself, the "beautiful sorcery genius" as she had arrogantly put it. _Strange group of people._

He walked over to the table and sat down in an empty set next to Amelia, who was smiling brightly at him. He attempted to smile back, but fail miserably, for there was just too much on his mind at the time. 

"Do you want something to eat?" she asked politely. 

"Kekko desu." he said just as politely.[2] 

"If you insist!" she said with an even bigger smile. 

About an hour later when the plates created a kind of fort around Lina and Gourry, Lina spoke."Allright, you guys, we still need to get that map and head out to wherever the hell this forest is that this happened." 

"Ano, Lina-sensei?" Gourry said, acting like Lina was teaching(or trying to) one of Gourry's magic lessons,"Can I ask you a question?" 

"Hai, Gourry-kun. What is it?" 

"Can't we just ask Other Zel over there where it is?" he jerked is thumb over a Zelgadis. 

Lina and Amelia just stared. 

"Wow, Gourry-san!!" Amelia said,"That was exceptionaly smart for you!" 

"Yeah, for a kurage..." 

Gourry blushed and said,"Awww, t'wasn't nothin'..." 

Lina smacked him upside the head."You're not THAT smart, baka!!! 

"Itai..." 

"Err, what was it that you guys wanted to know?" Zelgadis asked. 

"Aa, sou..." Lina said[3]."Well, you know we need to go back to the place where it happened, right?" 

He nodded. 

"Okay, then we just need to find where that is. Zelgadis, was there anywhere IN PARTICULAR that you spent a lot of your time--" 

"The Gurin Forest!" he replied immdietly. How could he NOT remember it? It was where he spent his time training, sword and spell, and was where he was last before all of this. 

Lina just out of her seat with joy and flashed a victory sign."YOSHA!!! I guess we lucked out!! That forest isn't far from here!! LET'S GO!!!!!!" she grabbed Gourry's arm and dashed out: no dobt she thought there would be a ruin there where she could find treasure.[4] 

Amelia sighed."They always do this...Oh, well." she started off through the door, and noticed Zelgadis had not left his spot, his eyebrow raised."C'mon! They just weirder, you'll get used to it!" she ran out to catch up, as did he. 

The entrance to the forest was at the end of a winding but straitforward, making it easy to find the forest's fasade. It was a nearly tropical forest, vines and lush green plants and trees: the entrance was covered with a wall of thick vines from only the few years that it had been inhabited; but it wasn't anything Gourry's Hikari no Ken(a/n: please excuse my interchanging of 'Hikari no Ken' and 'Sword of Light', not to mention the occasional 'Zelgadiss' and 'Zelgadis') couldn't cut through. 

"It looks like nobody's been here for a while..." Zelgadis commented with a hint of sadness. 

"Oh, you think?? It looks like nobody's been here for a hundred years!!" Lina barked. 

"These vines definately have a mage-accelerated growth spell on them...a strong one too." he said, touching a vine."I think it might have been put on these vines to seal off something." 

"Nevermind that! We'll find out when we get to it!" And with that, Lina skipped off into the forest. 

"That's Lina-san for you..." 

They reached a large dirt clearing, one that Zelgadiss recognized. His training grounds. He'd come here everyday, only stopping to study, eat, and sleep. He didn't need friends if he had power, right? His sword and the little magical power he could muster were his only true friends. He had great talent for white magic, he WAS the great Akahoushi Rezo's omagosan[5] after all, but all that did was heal, but it couldn't heal his past. Nothing could. 

They walked for another half-hour or so, and stopped in the middle of a large dirt clearing. 

"Hmm...looks like a good place to rest!" Lina said as she proceeded stetch and yawn. 

"Hey, what's this?" Amelia picked up a ragged piece of parchment, and Gourry leaned in to see what it said. 

"Ano...'incubus'?? What's that??" 

"Incubus," Xellos annouced as he popped in, dictionary in hand." "An evil spirit belived to decend upon and have _sexual intercorse_ with women as they sleep." Hmm, seems like my kinda evil spirit!" 

"WHAT?!?!?! Lemme see that!!" Lina snatched the piece of paper from Amelia's hand and read it, mumbling aloud."...hm hm hm huh...travelers beware...blah blah blahhh...icubus spirit...da da da...prevention:...HUH??!!!!!!!?????!!!!!????" 

**Next Time:**

**Chapter 4: Fukano na! It's One Thing After Another!**

_"Nani??" _

"So...we have to...ah..." 

"Huh?" 

"Bakana..." 

"This'll be interesting." 

You'd better watch or I'll REALLY start some trouble! 

Another cliffhanger! I didn't even give a clue in the preview!^^;; I bet you'll never guess what's gonna happen...^o^ 

Please send flames to sylphielchan89@hotmail.com because I'm too friggin' lazy to take off flame reviews. I'm also too lazy to proofread.^^;


	4. Fukano na! It's One Thing After Another!

Supression Cure Ch4

**Supression Cure Ch4:**

Fukano na! It's One Thing After Another! 

Sometime around what would be desert if they had any, things got reeeeeal quiet. 

"If it weren't so damned dark..." Lina muttered. 

"We don't know what else might be lurking around this forest, Lina," rang Zelgadiss's now-softer voice voice of logic and reason(as if the latter and former ever got them anywhere...logic and reason should take a trip to Hell!).[1]"This place has changed, probably for the worst...I've never even HEARD of those, ah, incubus spirits." The girls and boys minus Xelloss all shuddered in unision."And these thick trees don't help. It's like walking through Hell and back, just to avoid--" 

""JUST TO AVOID"?!?!" the infuriated redhead screamed as she throttled Zel's poor, currently human neck(this Zelgadiss hadn't gotten used to the beatings yet)."You aren't serious are you?!?!" She let go of his neck just as his face began to turn the color of his hair, and collapsed, letting out a cry/sob/sigh/wail."I can't beliiiieve thiiiisss..." Everyone felt the same way, but Lina was better at expressing it, stuttering as she had been when they found out how do avoid, ah, unnessisary and unpleasant things... 

-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=- 

_"What is it Lina-san?! Is it so horrible that it defies justice?!" _

"WORSE!!!" 

"Well, what is it, allready?" 

"Yeah. Don't keep us in suspense." 

"I'll take over for Lina-san while Amelia-san calms her down." Xelloss cleared his throat and read from the beat-up piece of paper.""Prevention: An incubus is an unholy creature and therefore is weak to light and good. If the fair maiden is held in the arms of their beloved within this area, the maiden will remained untouched..." And so forth." 

Lina re-fainted while Amelia started cooling her with a fan. 

"So ... we have to ... ah ..." 

Gourry blinked in confusion."Huh?" 

Although he was mildly blushing, Zelgadiss managed a comment that sounded like his future, pessimistic, depressed...ano, well, his future chimera self."B-bakana..." 

"This'll be interesting." 

-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=- 

They had decided to draw straws to see who would go with who, boy to girl, of course, and it all was kinda like that time at the shrine to the god of marrige(I REFUSE to capitalize that!!). One guy would get off scotch free. He, of course, would be a Horrendously Lucky Bastard(although it depends how you look at the situation). 

They tried to dodge and avoid The Task of Randomly Choosing the Person You'll Be Snuggling With Tonight(sorry v.v;), but Gourry cleverly(albeit exaggerated) remembered."Hey, we still have to pick straws!" Lina twitched and sighed. 

"I guess we're gonna hafta do this ..." She took a deep breath."Okay, this is how it goes. There are five straws. There's five of us. One lucky guy gets to sleep alone. Two are just white on the bottom, two are white with a red stripe, and one is pink.[2] If a guy gets the pink one, he gets to sleep alone. A a girl gets it, then we'll have to repick." 

"But, Lina, what if you get it? You don't count as a girl...ah, do you?" 

You can guess who got that Dil Brand to the head. 

"Itaiiiiiiiii..." 

"CARRYING ON," Lina continued as she dusted off her hands, and the proceeding to shuffle the straws behind her back,"Everybody, close your eyes. When it's your turn, I'll tap you on the shoulder, and you can open your eyes. After you pick, you hafta close your eyes again and make sure nobody can see your straw." 

"Is that closing-eyes-stuff REALLY needed? And what about you?" Zelgadiss inquired. 

"No, but that way I can savor the look on your guys's faces all at once. And nevermind about me, I'll just get the last straw." 

"You're starting to act like Mr. Xelloss, Miss Lina, and that scares me. A lot." 

"That's nice, Amelia." 

"Maybe we should just get this over with, like, now?" 

"Zel, no offense, but you sound like a valley girl." 

"Hey, hey, hey, let's not go about saying things that we can't take back." 

"...You're right. That was low. Sorry, Zel." 

"Apology accepted."[3] 

"Allright then, let's get started...we'll go clockwise, starting with Zel." 

Everyone closed their eyes, sans Zel and Lina, closed thier eyes(ever thought it really didn't matter to Xelloss either way...^^;), and Lina held her clutch of straws out to him. He took one out, and examined the bottom. Red stripe. He reclosed his eyes. 

Lina hadn't noticed what Zelgadiss had got, for she had allready gone onto Gourry, who did the same and got a white one. He resumed his closed eyes after Lina reminded him to do so with a wrap on the head. 

Amelia's turn. She took her straw and peered at it from under her hand so Lina couldn't see, then closed her eyes, and acted as if she were praying to Ceified. 

Xelloss. _Oh God, oh God,_ she thought, _NOT him!! I'd rather get stuck in a bedroll with jellyfish brains over there, at least he's innocent, but Xelloss...ECCHI!!!_

Xelloss smirked, not needing to open his eyes."I hope I get the color that you will, Lina-chan!!" 

Lina shivered. 

He took a straw. 

She looked at the straw in her hand and laughed evily/triumphantly."AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! IN YOUR FACE, HENTAI!!! BOO-YAH!!!" 

Xelloss's smirk didn't last that much longer. 

"...OH CRAP!!!! ^&%^(%#$%&%&#@%#^&^#$$@#^&~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

Amelia, Gourry, and Zelgadiss flinched and thier eyes snapped open at the strem of obcenities in 4 different laguages. 

"Such language, Xelloss!" lina scolded, a broad grin on her face. 

Xelloss fried the poor pink-ended straw."SHIMATTA!!!!" 

The others(sans Gourry, as usual) where all grins, but yet again, brought up a "brilliant" question. 

"Say, what did you guys get?" 

They all held out their straws, and looked around for its twin. 

Zelgadiss and Lina locked expressions, sighed and mumbled "....Whatever....". 

Amelia and Gourry blinked at eachouther and their straws."Ano..." Amelia, no doubt wanted it to be her to Zel, Lina to Gourry."Lina-san..." 

"Look, we've got to get some sleep. We're all adults and semi-adults right?" 

"... ... ..." 

"...FOR L-SAMA'S SAKE, GET INTO YER BEDROLLS WITH EACHOTHER AND GO TO SLEEP!!!" 

-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=- 

Later that night, they had finally, centimeter by centimeter, climbed into their respective bedrolls, and hesitantly wrapped their arms around their respective partner, occasionally fintching when they thought they shouldn't have(when they actually hadn't), but also looking at how the other pair was handling the situation. Very unnerving and rather awkward. 

For that moment, Gourry seemed like Amelia's older brother: as they slept, his arms were around her in a protective way, which made them look like a puppy and a kitten, a.k.a. cute. 

With Amelia's quite Sleep Justice Rants and Gourry's sound snoring in the background, Lina shuddered quietly, because even in Zelgadiss warm arms and their cloaks as extra blanketing , it was VERY chilly tonight, and Lina had very little on her build to keep her warm. 

_Shimata...!! I wish those stupid incubuses could've AT LEAST had an inn and resort out here, and hey, it would sure lure in the rich-as-hell fatcat customers and single virgins..._

"You're still cold?" he wispered, his warm breath on her neck, causing her to blush a bit at his quiet, husky tone in her ear, the blanket of near-crimson blush made her a bit warmer. 

"Ye-yeah, a little." 

She felt his wrap his arms a little more securely around her, and his surprisingly warm hands cover her bare arms, tilting his head a little closer, close enough to entwine some of their hair , creating waves of violet and firey tresses. 

She restrained her self from shivering again, but not from the cold. 

_This is gonna be a long night...but that's not nescissarily a bad thing..._

[1] Just pretend that Crispen Freeman = Chimera and Dan Cronin = Human. ^_^ Dan Cronin's voice[for Zel] sounds like Rezo's(Charles Rolfe/someone else), ne? 

[2] Kinda seems like the guy that gets the pink-bottomed straw is gay: he doesn't sleep with a girl, AND IT'S PINK FOR L-SAMA'S SAKE!!!^^; No, Xelloss isn't gay, he's just a fruit ... okay, maybe he's bi, but still, he's kawaii.^_^ Hey, that rhymes ... Please don't flame me for that, I LIKE Xelloss! *bugs bunny voice* Dere's sumpthin' reeeeaaaaallll mysterious an' sexy 'bout 'im...^_^ I still like Zel, tho. 

[3] Yup, ya gotta hate dem valley girls! Strangely enough, the people in my class HATE valley girls, but I'm sure that'll change when I get into middle school...*shudder* 

Note: And no, I don't care if they have drinking straws or not!! 

Oh, and about that Lina wishing that she'd rather be with Gourry-kun than Xelloss : no offense to ANY L/X or L/G fan: you should know by now that I don't offend other couple bias fans, although some other fans flame people for thier bias which is RUDE and UNCALLED FOR. And besides, L/G is kinda cute, and I've written L/X fics.^_^ Yeah, I know, I need to quit apologizing and saying "no offense" all the time(it's the thing I seem to say most in a/n's)....... 

....................I'M ALSO TOO LAZY TO PROOFREAD, OR GET SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @_@


End file.
